Going to Conferences - How to Pay For It

A little known secret around the Computer Science department is that it is quite easy for grad students to attend conferences, and have someone else pay for it. As a grad student who's been around a few years, let me tell you how...

The most common way to fund a conference trip is to get money from your research grant. For instance, I've worked on the now-completed Multiview project for 3 years, and it has reliably funded my travel.

Another common way to fund a conference trip is to get some funding as a student volunteer. For instance, at the International Conference on Software Engineering, if you volunteer for around 20 hours, you get free lodging, lunches, and registration for the conference, which would otherwise run you about $1000. Plus, you can typically get into some otherwise very expensive tutorials for free. I volunteer whenever possible, and have done it about 8 times. Check with your conference to see if they have such a program, and what they'll cover.

Conferences sometimes have scholarships available as well. For instance, Foundations of Software Engineering has the CAPS program, which awarded me enough for a plane ticket and conference registration. Again, check to see if your conference has such a program.

I know of two good grants from PSU that fund conference travel. One is the Marie Brown travel award. Personally, I have found this award typically allocates small amounts (between $100 and $200), but is also quite painless to apply for and receive. The other grant is the AAA travel grant, which is a bit more work to fill out and fulfil the requirements for, but also awards more money. And a reliable source tells me that AAA currently has more money than they have applicants, which should increase your chances of getting funded. I have received money from both of these grants twice each.

The CS department itself has been known to occasionally provide reimbursement for conferences. My understanding is that there is no official procedure for applying, so ask your advisor if this is a possibility.

Two pieces of advice for successfully applying for this money, whatever the source:

1. It's always best if you have some piece of work to present at the conference. If you don't have a full conference paper, a poster or a demonstration at the conference will often suffice, and not always difficult to accepted.
2. Organizations that give you money like to see that they won't be the only ones funding your travel. So, try to apply for multiple sources of funding.

Finally, two tips for reducing expenses:

1. Share a hotel room.
   
2. Don't stay at the conference hotel; find a cheaper one.

Now, go to that conference and make us proud!